Smith. — Notes on Ncio Zealand Earthworms. 115 



emerges. The cocoon generally bursts longitudinally, and we 

 have observed the inner mucous coating of the cocoon to be 

 slightly tinged with blood after the worm had escaped. The 

 time occupied, and the position of the young worm's body 

 while emerging, varies according to the texture of the cocoon : 

 some yield freely and allow the young worms to escape in a 

 few hours without difficulty ; others are stronger in texture, 

 causing the time of emergence to be more prolonged. I can- 

 not state accurately the time required for the full development 

 of the embryos, as it must vary according to the conditions of 

 the soil and temperature surrounding them. Judging by the 

 colours of the cocoons changing as the embryos developed 

 within them, and allowing that the cocoons may have been 

 several days or weeks old when dug out of the soil, we found 

 the worms to emerge at periods varying from eighty to a hun- 

 dred and forty-two days. We endeavoured to ascertain the 

 time of development by peeling off several of the thin outer 

 layers of the cocoons, and holding them close to a bright lamp 

 at night, and studying them with a strong lens. Although 

 this method is not quite satisfactory, it nevertheless affords a 

 fairly accurate means of ascertaining the approximate time 

 required for the development and emergence of the embryos. 

 I do not possess a copy of Beddard's paper on the anatomy of 

 Acanthoclrilus multiporus, A. novce-zealandia, A. dissimilis, 

 and another species or variety sent to him by Professor 

 Parker, F.E.S., from the neighbourhood of Dunedin ; but the 

 following abstract of a paper* on the development of A. multi- 

 porus presented by Beddard to the Boyal Society two years 

 ago will afford some idea of the interesting worm : — 



" In the young embryos of this worm each segment is 

 furnished with a pair of nephridia, each opening by a ciliated 

 funnel into the segment in front of that which carries the 

 dorsally-placed external pore. In later stages the funnels 

 degenerate, and that portion of the tube which immediately 

 follows the funnel becomes solid, losing its lumen ; at the same 

 time the nephridium branches, and communicates with the 

 exterior by numerous pores. At a comparatively early stage, 

 four pairs of gonads are developed in segments x.-xiii. ; each of 

 these is situated on the posterior wall of its segment, as in 

 Acanthodrilus annectens, and not on the anterior wall as in 

 the majority of earthworms. When the gonads first appear, 

 the nephridial funnels, with which they are in close contact, 

 are still ciliated, and their lumen is prolonged into the ne- 

 phridium for a short distance. Later the cilia are lost, and the 

 funnels increase greatly in size, while those of the neighbouring 

 segments — in fact, all the remaining funnels — remain stationary 



* N.Z. Journal of Science, vol. i. (new issue), p. 72. 



